Cory Watson, the Bombers leading receiver, will miss the next two to four weeks of action with a pulled right hamstring.

Backup safety Dan West will not, however, have to avoid making eye contact with the coaching staff and change in a bathroom stall until the Canadian receiver returns to the lineup.

West was the one who pushed Watson out of bounds on the practice play Wednesday afternoon, resulting in the injury, and head coach Tim Burke was livid with him afterwards. In fact, Burke told CJOB moments after the incident that he would have cut West on the spot if he had a replacement for him.

That was just Burke letting off some steam after losing his top receiver, and he took back that harsh statement on Thursday after seeing a replay of the incident.

“You never should say anything until after you’ve watched the video, and I apologized to Dan for making him the villain,” Burke said. “Cory had a part in it. He shouldn’t have stiff-armed Dan. When you get highly motivated individuals with a lot of testosterone, it comes down to everybody’s trying to prove who’s a man and who isn’t. So we want to just stay away from those situations.”

West was a little shocked to hear Burke’s comment, but he’s ready to move on to Friday night’s contest against the Argos.

‘Taken aback’

“I was a little taken back by it, but I can understand where he’s coming from,” West said. “Coach has a lot of pressure on him, and Cory’s a great player for us. That’s just what happened in the moment. Now we move on. I’m still here.

“… It wasn’t like a retaliation. It was just more of a reflex. When you get stiff-armed you either grab the arm or you push. Unfortunately he got hurt, but that’s what happens.”

Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce said there’s no tension in the locker-room over the incident, as players are well aware that even the slightest awkward movement can result in an injury at any time.

“At the time you’re thinking, dang, it’s practice,” Pierce said. “But it’s still football, and everybody goes hard in practice. That’s how we practise, and those kind of things happen. It could happen to anybody. You forgive it, and you move on, and you get ready. You can’t change what happened. You have to move on. That’s what we have to do.

“… I don’t think you can be mad at a guy for doing what he was told to do, and he’s playing hard and giving us a look, and he’s asked to do a job as well.”

Rory Kohlert will replace Watson, who was second in the CFL with 215 receiving yards, in the starting lineup.

“Rory Kohlert will do an exceptional job running routes,” Burke said. “We’ll have to find a different way to block some of our runs, probably with different personnel groups, but we’ll be fine.”

Bombers' Burke says no hard feelings

Coach apologizes for making West 'villain'

Cory Watson, the Bombers leading receiver, will miss the next two to four weeks of action with a pulled right hamstring.

Backup safety Dan West will not, however, have to avoid making eye contact with the coaching staff and change in a bathroom stall until the Canadian receiver returns to the lineup.

West was the one who pushed Watson out of bounds on the practice play Wednesday afternoon, resulting in the injury, and head coach Tim Burke was livid with him afterwards. In fact, Burke told CJOB moments after the incident that he would have cut West on the spot if he had a replacement for him.